World Literatures Requirements

Requirements and Worksheet

The World Literatures major requires 36 credits:

  • four courses in Comparative Studies that introduce students to historical, practical, and theoretical questions involved in the study of diverse literary traditions
  • eight literature courses taken in language, literature, and culture departments in the College of Arts and Sciences. Students must take at least one course representing each of five world regions (Africa, the Middle East, Europe/North America, Latin America/Caribbean, and East and South Asia/Pacific). Students must take at least three literature courses at the 4000-level or higher.

All of the following are required (12 credit hours):

Comp St 2301 Introduction to World Literature
Comp St 3302 Translating Literatures and Cultures
Comp St 3990 Approaches to Comparative Studies (or an approved substitute)
Comp St 3903 World Literature: Theory and Practice

Distribution Requirement (24 credit hours):

All five geo-political regions must be represented by at least one course (5 courses, 15 semester hours) and three regions must each be represented by two courses (3 courses, 9 semester hours). One cross-cultural course may be substituted, but each of the five regions must be represented by at least one course.  At least three of these courses must be at the 4000-level or higher.

The five regions are:

Cross/Cultural courses are listed here: Cross/Cultural

Courses that fulfill the distribution requirement (by region) are listed below.

Electives

 

Africa  

African American and African Studies

  • 2251 Introduction to African Literature
  • 2367.04 Black Women Writers: Text and Context
  • 4551 Topics in Africana Literature
  • 4460 Political Thought in African Literature
  • 4584H Literature and Modern Experience in Africa

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East And South Asia / Pacific

Chinese

  • 2451 Chinese Literature in Translation
  • 4401 Chinese Poetry in Translation
  • 4402 Traditional Chinese Fiction in Translation
  • 4403 Modern Chinese Literature in Translation
  • 4404 Chinese Drama in Translation
  • 4407 Eco-Literature in China
  • 6451 History of Chinese Literature I
  • 6452 History of Chinese Literature II

East Asian

  • 5475 Women Writers, Culture, and Society in East Asia

Japanese

  • 2451 Japanese Literature in Translation
  • 2452 Modern Japanese Literature in Translation
  • 4401 Japanese Literature in Critical Perspective
  • 5454 Japanese Literature: Classical Period
  • 5455 Japanese Literature: Medieval and Edo Periods
  • 5456 Japanese Literature: Modern Period

Korean

  • 2451 Korean Literature in Translation
  • 5405 Korean Drama in Translation

 

Latin America / Caribbean

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African American and African Studies

  • 2253 Introduction to Caribbean Literature


Comparative Studies

  • 4805 Literature of the Americas

Portuguese

  • 2335 Cannibal Brazil: Cultural Encounters and Negotiations of Identity in Literature


Spanish

  • 2151 Latin American Literature and Culture
  • 2330 Reinventing America
  • 2331 Caribbean Cultures
  • 2520 Latin American Literatures (in translation): Fiction and Reality
  • 4590H Interdisciplinary Protocols: Identity and National Formation in Latin America: Perspectives from Literature

 

Middle East

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Arabic

  • 2701 Classical and Medieval Arabic Literature in Translation
  • 2702 Modern Arabic Literature in Translation (cross-listed with Women’s Studies)
  • 2705 The Arabian Nights
  • 3501 Middle Eastern Literature and Postcolonial Theory
  • 5701The Qur'an in Translation
  • 5702 Arabic Folk Narrative in Translation

Hebrew

  • 2210 The Jewish Mystical Tradition
  • 2700 Biblical and Post-Biblical Hebrew Literature in Translation
  • 2701 Medieval Hebrew Literature in Translation
  • 2702 Modern Hebrew Literature in Translation
  • 2703 Prophecy in the Bible and Post-Biblical Literature
  • 2704 Women in Biblical and Post-Biblical Literature
  • 2708 Biblical and Post-Biblical Wisdom Literature
  • 5802 The Problem of Evil in Biblical and Post-Biblical Literature

Persian

  • 2301 Persian Mythology and Folklore
  • 2701 Persian Literature in Translation
  • 2704 Introduction to Persian Epic

Turkish

  • 2701 Turkish Literature in Translation

Near Eastern Languages and Cultures

  • 3700 Mythology of Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia
  • 3702 Literatures and Cultures of the Islamic World
  • 3704 The Novel in the Middle East
  • 4601 Israeli and Palestinian Literature
  • 5571 Canon and Communities in the Near East

Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

  • 3372 Modern Arabic Literature in Translation (cross-listed with Arabic)

 

North America and Europe

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African American and African Studies

  • 2281 Intro to African American Literature
  • 2367.01 African-American Theatre History
  • 2367.04 Black Women Writers: Text and Context
  • 4582 Special Topics in African American Literature

Arabic

  • 2367 Issues in Arab-American Society, Culture, and Literature

Classics

  • 2220 Classical Mythology
  • 2890H Topics in Ancient Literature and Socie
  • 3100 Topics in Ancient Literature & Culture
  • 3101 Greek & Roman Epic
  • 3102 Greek & Roman Drama
  • 3103 Comic Spirit in Antiquity
  • 3104 The Ancient Novel: Narrative Fiction in Greece
  • 3215 Sex and Gender in the Ancient World
  • 3403 The Hero in Classical Mythology

Comparative Studies

  • 2105 Literature and Ethnicity
  • 3604 Women in East Asian and Asian-American Literature
  • 4803 Studies in Asian American Literature and Culture (cross-listed in English)
  • 4804 Studies in Latino/a Literature and Culture (cross-listed in English)

English

  • 4513 Introduction to Medieval Literature
  • 4514 Middle English Literature
  • 4515 Chaucer
  • 4520.01 Shakespeare
  • 4520.02 Special Topics in Shakespeare
  • 4521 Renaissance Drama
  • 4522 Renaissance Poetry
  • 4523 Special Topics in Renaissance Literature and Culture
  • 4531 Restoration & 18th-Century Literature
  • 4533 The Early British Novel: Origins to 1830
  • 4535 Special Topics in Restoration and 18th-Century British Literature and Culture
  • 4540 19th-Century British Poetry
  • 4542 19th-Century British Novel
  • 4543 20th-Century British Fiction
  • 4547 20th-Century Poetry
  • 4549 Modern Drama
  • 4550 Special Topics in Colonial and Early National Literature of the U.S.
  • 4551 Special Topics in 19th-Century U.S. Literature
  • 4552 Special Topics in American Poety through 1915
  • 4553 20th-Century U.S. Fiction
  • 4560 Special Topics in Poetry
  • 4561 Studies in Fictional and Nonfictional Narrative
  • 4562 Studies in Literature and the Other Arts
  • 4563 Contemporary Literature
  • 4575 Special Topics in Literary Forms and Themes
  • 4580 Special Topics in LGBTQ Literatures and Cultures
  • 4581 Special Topics in U.S. Ethnic Literatures
  • 4582 Studies in African American Literature
  • 4586 Studies in American Indian Literature and Culture
  • 4587 Studies in Asian American Literature and Culture (cross-listed in Comparative Studies)
  • 4588 Studies in Latino/a Literature and Culture (cross-listed in Comparative Studies)
  • 4590H Honors Seminars: Major Periods in Literary History
  • 4592 Special Topics in Women in Literature and Culture
  • 4598H Honors Seminar: Selected Topics in Literature and Literary Interpretation

French

  • 2501 Topics in French Literature and Culture in Translation

German

  • 2251 German Literature and Popular Culture
  • 2252H The Faust Theme
  • 2253 Magic, Murder, and Mayhem
  • 3351 Democracy, Fascism, and German Culture
  • 4252 Masterpieces of German Literature

Modern Greek

  • 2500H Greek Identities: Ancient and Modern
  • 3710 Modern Greek Literature in Translation

Polish

  • 5230 Polish Literature

Russian

  • 2250 Masterpieces of Russian Literature
  • 3644 Russian Fairy Tales and Folklore
  • 4220 Love and Death in Russian Literature
  • 4221 Revolution and Restoration in Russian Literature
  • 5250 The Russian Writer

Scandinavian

  • 3350 Norse Mythology and Medieval Culture
  • 4250 Masterpieces of Scandinavian Literature

Slavic

  • 2230 Vampires, Monstrosity, and Evil: From Slavic Myth to Twilight
  • 2345 Introduction to Slavic and East European Literature and Culture
  • 2367 The East European Experience in America
  • 3320 Science Fiction: East vs. West
  • 4260H Dead Man Writing: Literary Representations of Capital Punishment
  • 4560H Cinderella's Fantasy: Gender and Women in Western and Eastern Europe
  • 5280 Slavic and East European Literature
  • 5570 The Austro-Hungarian Grotesque

Spanish

  • 2150 Cultures and Literatures of Spain
  • 2320 Don Quixote in Translation
  • 2321 The Spanish Don Juan Theme in the Theatre

Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

  • 2367.01 U.S. Women Writers: Text and Context
  • 2367.02 U.S. Latina Writers: Text and Context
  • 2367.03 Lesbian Writers: Text and Context
  • 2367.04 Black Women Writers: Text and Context

Yiddish

  • 2367 Jewish-American Voices in U.S. Literature
  • 3371 Yiddish Literature in Translation
  • 3399 Holocaust in Yiddish and Ashkenazic Literature and Film
  • 5641 Places in Ashkenaz

 

Cross-Cultural Courses (Only one course may be chosen and counted toward one of the regions; all five regions must be represented.)

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African American and African Studies

  • 3451 Themes in Francophone African and Caribbean Literature
  • 4551 Topics in Africana Literature

Comparative Studies

  • 2102.01 Literature and Religion
  • 2103 Literature and the Self
  • 2104 Literature, Science, and Technology
  • 3603 Love in World Literature
  • 3604 Women in East Asian and Asian-American Literature
  • 3606 The Quest in World Literature
  • 3607 Film and Literature as Narrative Art
  • 3608 Representations of the Experience of War
  • 4808 Utopia and Anti-Utopia
  • 4809 The Twentieth-Century Novel: Transnational Contexts
  • 5864 Modernity and Postmodernity: Concepts and Theories
  • 5602 Poetry and Politics in the 20th-Century Mediterranean (cross-listed with NELC)

East Asian Literatures and Languages

  • H3299 East Asian Thought in the Western Imagination, 1600-2000

English

  • 4583 Special Topics in World Literature in English

Linguistics

  • 3603 Language across Cultures

Near Eastern Languages and Cultures

  • 5672 Poetry and Politics in the 20th-Century Mediterranean (cross-listed with Comparative Studies)

Portuguese

  • 2150 Intro to the Literatures of the Portuguese-Speaking World

Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

  • 2215 Reading Women Writers

 

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